The secret history behind the beloved 'Goldfinch' can be found in Carel Fabritius's book The Goldfinch.

A life-size chained goldfinch is depicted in a painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Carel Fabritius.It was signed and dated 1654 and is now in the collection.The work is a trompe-l'il oil on panel that was once part of a larger structure.At the time of the gunpowder explosion that killed him and destroyed the city, it is possible that the painting was in his workshop.

The goldfinch was a popular pet and could be taught simple tricks such as lifting a bucket of water.The Italian Renaissance used it as a symbol of Christian redemption and the crucifixion of Jesus.

The simplicity of The Goldfinch's composition and use of illusionary techniques make it unusual for the Dutch Golden Age painting period.It was lost for more than two centuries after the death of its creator.It is a central part of the film adaptation of The Goldfinch.

The goldfinch is an oil painting on a panel measuring 33.5 by 22.8 centimetres and is in the collection of the Mauritshuis in The Hague, Netherlands.When it was restored in 2003 there were details of its physical structure.Because the lead-based paint limited the effectiveness of traditional X-rays and infrared, the chief conservator used aCT to digitally eliminate the paint layer and see what was underneath.The panel on which it is painted is 8–10 millimetres thick, which is typically deep for a small painting, and indicates that it may have been part of a larger piece of wood.The remains of a wooden pin suggest that the original boards were joined with glue and dowels.The painting had a black border on top of which a gilded frame was fixed with ten nails.There is no evidence of a backing to the picture because the nails did not reach the back of the panel.A residual line of a greenish copper compound was left after the frame was removed.The lower perch was added after Fabritius extended the white background pigment to the right edge.The black edges were painted white.[3]

There are four nail holes in the back of the panel, suggesting two different ways of suspending it.Linda Stone-Ferrier suggests that the panel may have been attached to the window's inner jamb or that it was a protective cover for another painting.[3]

The surface of the painting had small dents that must have been formed when the paint was still not fully dried.The explosion that killed its creator may have caused some damage.The restoration removed the old yellow varnish and showed the original tones, which were described by the art critic as mur blme and lumineuse couleur.[6]

The painting shows a blue container with a lid and a goldfinch on top of it.The bird's leg is attached to a chain on the upper ring.The painting is signed and dated.[2]

The goldfinch is a common bird in Europe, North Africa, and western and central Asia.It had been domesticated for at least 2,000 years and was thought to bring health and good fortune.In the 17th century, it became fashionable to train goldfinches to draw water from a bowl with a miniature bucket on a chain.The Dutch title of the painting is the bird's nickname puttertje, which means "draw-water" in an old Norfolk dialect.[8][10]

The goldfinch is often used in paintings for its symbolic meanings.The presence of a giant goldfinch next to a naked couple in The Garden of Earthly Delights may refer to the belief that the bird has fertility.10

Leonardo da Vinci's Madonna Litta is one of the many Renaissance religious paintings that show the bird.In the middle of the 14th century, many of these devotional paintings were created.[13]

The water-drawing behavior of the bird is shown in Fruit Still-Life with Squirrel and Goldfinch by Abraham Mignon.

A giant goldfinch is shown in the garden of earthly delights by Hieronymus Bosch.

Piero della Francesca wrote The Nativity.There is a shrub to the left of the musician's foot.

The Goldfinch is a trompe-l'il painting which uses artistic techniques to create the illusion of depth, notably through foreshortening of the head, but also by highlights on the rings and the bird's foot.The visual effect is enhanced by bold strokes of bright colors above and duller colors below.It looks like the viewpoint was intended to be mounted in an elevated position.The lack of a frame suggests that the painting may have been mounted to look realistic.[3]

Stone-Ferrier's supposition that it may have been part of a window jamb is based on the painting that makes it look like a real bird.During the Dutch Golden Age, windows and perspective boxes were used to create realistic interiors.Fabritius used a perspective box to create depth in his paintings.[5]

The lead white paint was used as a base for the cream plaster of the walls.Andrew Graham-Dixon thought that the blend of colors in the shadow was indicative of the techniques used by the French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists.[16]

The story of Zeuxis painting grapes so real that birds flew down to peck at them was told by Pliny.Jacopo de' Barbari's A Sparrowhawk is a Renaissance example of a painting that was supposed to be mounted to create an illusion of reality.The simplicity of the design combined with the perspective technique in The Goldfinch is unique among paintings from the Dutch Golden Age.The nail that appears to be protruding from the Portrait of Abraham de Potter is the result of a previous experiment with trompe-l'il.[17]

According to the art historian, Jacopo de' Barbari painted Still-Life with Partridge and Gauntlets more than a hundred years before The Goldfinch.The bird was created with broad brush strokes and only minor changes to its outline were made.Rembrandt's typical chiaroscuro uses cool daylight, complex perspective, and dark figures against a light background, whereas Fabritius uses the handle end of his painting.[5]

The Dutch Republic has a person born in Middenbeemster in 1622.He used to work as a carpenter.His father and brothers Barent and Johannes were painters and, although not formally trained in art, his ability gained him a place at Rembrandt's studio in Amsterdam.In 1641, Fabritius married his first wife, who came from a well-to-do family, and then moved to Amsterdam.After her death, he moved back to Middenbeemster, where he lived until the early 1650s.[15]

At least 100 people were killed and a quarter of the city was destroyed when the gunpowder magazine exploded in October of 1654.His works are not known to have survived.According to his biographer, Arnold Houbraken, three people died as a result of the explosion.The goldfinch was painted in the year that Fabritius died.[2]

The works of Fabritius were well-received by his peers and his style influenced other Dutch painters of the period.It has been suggested that he was a student of Fabritius, but there is no evidence for this.[3]

The Goldfinch was lost for more than two centuries before it was discovered.It was found in the collection of a former Dutch army officer and collector.The rest of the collection was bequeathed to Apolline Lacroix by the Chevalier's heirs in 1869.[5]

At the Htel Drouot auction house in Paris on December 5, 1892, it was sold to tienne-Franois Haro, a painter, restorer and art dealer.Martinet's collection included works by other renowned artists such as Rembrandt, Goya, and Corot, as well as La Pythonisse, a work attributed to Barent.30

The Goldfinch is a central part of the novel.Theodore "Theo" Decker survived a terrorist bombing at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art in which his mother died.He takes the Fabritius painting, part of a Dutch Golden Age exhibition, with him as he escapes the building, and much of the book is based around his attempts to hide the picture, its theft and eventual return.